Citang Gai Renewal

China

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Citang Gai Renewal

China

Firm

Fangyuan Design

Type

Commercial › Retail Showroom Exhibition Center

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2024

SIZE

25,000 sqft - 100,000 sqft

BUDGET

$100K - 500K

Living Conservation & Inconspicuous Renewal
Keep historical buildings "alive" in the present; let renovation designs "blend" into the original style.
Sustain the social attributes of space; activate the intangible value of architecture
/01/
Historical Evolution & Cultural Context
This project is located in Shaocheng Community, Wangjiaguan Subdistrict, Qingyang District, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, approximately 50 meters west of People’s Park. It sits in the Shaocheng Area—the core historical and cultural zone of Chengdu—and falls within the key protection scope of Chengdu’s historical urban area, boasting prominent historical context and cultural value.
Core Area: Lama Hutong
Historically, this area was the core of the "Manchu Garrison City" (where the Eight Banners were stationed) during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, gradually developing into a bustling block in Chengdu. Citang Gai was known as Lama Hutong (or Mongolian Hutong), also called Dongmen Street.
Cultural Hub & Revolutionary Stronghold
During the Republic of China (ROC) era, after two expansions, Citang Gai became a concentration of Sino-Western hybrid architecture due to its favorable location, integrating functions such as finance (the former Juxingcheng Bank), culture (Sichuan Art Society, Xinhua Daily Office), and commerce (Jinqiu Teahouse). It emerged as a key node of modern cultural and commercial integration in Chengdu. The 6 ROC-era buildings involved in the project are physical witnesses to this historical process, carrying the continuity of Shaocheng Area’s context from the Qing Dynasty to the ROC period.
Abandonment & Survival in a Crunch
The Citang Gai Area was preserved thanks to 6 stylistic buildings: Jinqiu Teahouse, the former site of Xinhua Daily Chengdu Office, Sichuan Art Society Brick Building, the former Chengdu Musical Instrument Factory Dormitory, the former site of Xinhua Bookstore Children’s Reading Department, and the former Juxingcheng Bank Citang Gai Office. However, this also slowed the area’s renewal amid rapid urbanization, leading Citang Gai to gradually evolve into a "slum" in the city center. Among the existing historical buildings: Jinqiu Teahouse serves both as a teahouse and restaurant; the Xinhua Daily Office is used as low-cost housing for migrant workers; and the former Sichuan Art Society site lies idle, a "disposable鸡肋."
/02/
Heritage Revival & Activating Treasures
The renewal of Citang Gai advanced gradually through repeated negotiations between the project owner, local residents, designers, and operators. As the design unit, we spent nearly half our time popularizing laws and regulations on cultural relic protection, as well as principles for restoring and using cultural relics and historical buildings. Though arduous and tedious, we were glad to see a significant improvement in everyone’s awareness of cultural relic protection, and all parties finally aligned on goals and approaches. On the other hand, since Citang Gai’s renewal is an investment project, the owner’s initiatives needed to follow market logic—so we conducted extremely detailed on-site surveys. For historical research, the owner collected old photos from the public and interviewed local residents; we also consulted materials, sought out relatives, friends, and elders familiar with Citang Gai, and the community contributed greatly by providing clues.
With this detailed foundational data, we navigated the design with ease: we adhered to the principles of protecting and restoring cultural relics and historical buildings (upholding the "red line"), while flexibly adapting local space treatments and using multiple reversible protection measures to provide reasonable spatial circulation for commercial operations.
First, we cleared garbage on-site and demolished obvious later-added partitions, striving to expose the original old building components. Second, we conducted 3D scanning of the area’s cultural relic buildings—cleaning had eliminated obstructions, so the resulting point cloud models facilitated subsequent mapping and were preserved permanently as historical image data. Third, we carried out on-site surveys (including photography and manual surveying), which required long-term experience and professional knowledge. On-site, we identified the building’s form, structure, materials, decorations, colors, craftsmanship, and existing defects one by one, similar to a doctor’s diagnosis through observation, listening, inquiry, and palpation.
Jinqiu Teahouse
Originally the private residence of Lai Jianhou (magistrate of three counties in the ROC era), it later became Hongdao Teahouse (a Confucian teahouse) in the ROC period, and served as a cover for the adjacent Xinhua Daily Chengdu Office during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
The main house of Jinqiu Teahouse uses a wooden post-and-lintel structure; after identification, we concluded it is the only Qing Dynasty building among Citang Gai’s cultural relic structures. The design centered on "tracing Qing and ROC styles, restoring historical texture": we first completely removed the faux blue-brick plastic panels covering the original texture, then preserved the traditional form of "exposed blue-brick wall + wooden-framed glass windows + front-eaves chi-tou (ornamental wall caps)" by referencing the semi-circular stone arches, blue-brick structural columns, and double ridge ornaments retained in the main hall. We supplemented matching eaves boards and gable verge boards to highlight the teahouse’s civic cultural atmosphere.
We boldly applied the building’s elements outside the courtyard—such as the first-floor arches/windows and second-floor balcony panels/window styles. The final effect allows people to immediately recognize that the entire facade belongs to Citang Gai, as no other area has such elements.
In terms of interior space, removing two blocking walls connected the spatial passages. Areas once separated by walls now form a continuous circulation path. This renovation eliminated physical barriers, enhanced spatial fluidity and openness: it optimized traffic flow, improved visual permeability, and created closer spatial connections between previously enclosed areas, laying a favorable foundation for functional integration and interactive experiences in the commercial space.
Xinhua Daily Office
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Xinhua Daily was the only newspaper of the Communist Party of China allowed to be publicly distributed in Kuomintang-controlled areas; this site was its Chengdu subscription agency and branch.
The former site of Xinhua Daily Chengdu Office is a courtyard complex (facing south), a 3-story brick-wood structure with a Sino-Western hybrid style and a small green tile roof, consisting of south and north buildings. For facade renovation, we restored the comb-back arched doors/windows and blue-brick walls based on the original features of the north building (blue-brick eaves imitating dougong brackets) and the south building (bamboo-woven mud walls combined with blue-brick columns), recreating the calm texture of the building from the revolutionary era—retaining the charm of traditional Chinese architecture while incorporating Western construction techniques.
The building’s space consists of multi-level floors; the original layout separated the south/north buildings and connecting corridors, with vertical height differences causing broken circulation. The design integrated the corridor systems of each floor by adding connecting stairs, forming a multi-level circular circulation flow. Spatially, the floors are linked via staggered connections and vertical traffic from the new stairs, allowing pedestrians to move smoothly between different elevation planes and achieving continuous spatial connection. This renovation eliminated circulation barriers from existing height differences; the "circular flow" design enhanced spatial interaction and experience, integrating scattered building volumes into an organic whole via vertical traffic—a typical strategy for spatial integration of building clusters.
The window frames adopt Gothic pointed-arch forms with stained glass inlay techniques: when light passes through, it creates a colorful texture on the wooden floors and walls, fostering a spatial atmosphere that blends artistry and history. The arched doors/windows are not just lighting components but also visual focal points that dialogue with internal art installations—retaining the retro charm of the historical building while realizing dual renewal of architectural function and aesthetic conception through the introduction of contemporary art.
The eaves detail showcases the connection craft between wood structures and tile work; the dormer windows restore the lighting and styling features of ROC-era roofs. The grey plaster decorations (dui) and sparrow-tail ridges accurately replicate the decorative forms of traditional Chinese architecture; the bamboo-woven mud wall detail reflects the application logic of local traditional craftsmanship. During restoration, we strictly followed the principle of "original form, original craftsmanship"—this is both a precise restoration of the building’s historical structural details and a concrete technical basis for inheriting traditional craftsmanship and protecting historical style, fully supporting the restoration and presentation of the Xinhua Daily Office’s historical texture.
Sichuan Art Society Brick Building
In the 1930s, it housed the ROC-era Sichuan Art Society; during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhang Daqian and Xu Beihong held solo exhibitions here. Built in 1930, the 2-story brick-wood Sino-Western hybrid building uses blue-brick walls as the base, paired with wooden doors/windows, floors, stairs, and carved wooden brackets under the eaves. It is a physical witness to Chengdu’s architectural art and cultural development in the ROC period, and once hosted exhibitions by masters like Zhang Daqian and Xu Beihong. Before being reclaimed, it was a private residence.
For renewal, we adopted the restoration concept of "heritage revival": we used "restoring the old as the old" to retain the historical texture of the blue-brick walls and wooden components, while introducing modern commercial and cultural formats as one of Chengdu’s first pilot projects for the separation of ownership and usage rights of cultural relic buildings. The facade continues the blue-brick arch form, with transparent glass interfaces in some areas to enhance internal-external interaction; the interior retains the original wooden beam structure, allowing historical style and contemporary functions to coexist organically.
As the core node of Citang Gai Art Community’s renewal, the building carries the humanistic memories of ROC art history while activating the space through modern design language.
The internal courtyard adopts a courtyard layout: based on the ROC brick-wood structure, blue-brick arched doorways and red wooden corridor platforms form a three-dimensional spatial sequence, creating a layered courtyard space through interspersed corridors and steps. The thick texture of the blue-brick walls dialogues with the retro texture of the wooden components; courtyard greenery softens the hard interfaces, allowing the building and natural ecology to coexist harmoniously. The design retains the form features of ROC architecture (e.g., arch structures, carved corridor railings) while activating the site’s vitality through modern landscape intervention, realizing the organic integration of historical building texture and contemporary humanistic experience—embodying "courtyard space narration + cultural scene creation."
Xinhua Bookstore Children’s Reading Department
Built in the early ROC era, it was a high-end hotel in Chengdu at the time; in the 1930s–40s, it was a key stronghold for underground CPC revolutionary activities.
No. 12 Residential Building was used for both commercial and residential purposes after liberation: the first floor (facing the street) served as a shop (Xinhua Bookstore Children’s Reading Department), with extensive alterations and demolitions, while the second and third floors were residential. The building uses red-brick walls, concrete lintels at door/window openings, precast reinforced concrete floor slabs, a triangular wooden truss frame, and a traditional overhanging gable roof. Most walls have now been converted to red brick; the 3-story building retains its original entrance alley, layout, and main walls.
Citang Gai’s protection plan requires a "Old Chengdu, Shu Style, International Appeal" and adopts a "preservation-oriented, combined with renovation" approach. The specific design is based on detailed surveys: we sorted through layers to identify valuable cultural relic components (e.g., those with distinct era features or exquisite details that must be retained) and components too damaged to be retained (which must be replaced). We removed later-added tiles and ground-floor cement mortar from the facade, cleaned plaster from the red-brick exterior wall, restored the original combination of exposed red-brick walls and concrete lintels, and supplemented wooden-framed glass windows to recreate the simple facade style of ROC residential buildings.
The ground floor uses continuous arched doors/windows: this enhances the permeability and displayability of the commercial interface, integrates with the arched door/window style of Citang Gai’s old buildings, and adapts to Chengdu’s climate and commercial activity needs. The upper floors use rectangular windows with grid-style wooden mullions: these ensure lighting and ventilation while embodying traditional residential decorative details, creating a "residence + commerce" hierarchical contrast with the ground-floor commercial facade.
Former Chengdu Musical Instrument Factory Dormitory
Built around 1930 as a private residence; after liberation (1951), it was allocated to Chengdu Musical Instrument Factory as office space and staff dormitories.
Before restoration, the brick-wood structure was severely damaged: the space was chaotic, with tangled pipelines and aging components, the original form and style were nearly lost, and the function was almost abandoned. After renovation, we used the strategy of "restoring the old as it was": we not only repaired characteristic elements such as grey-brick walls, red-wood doors/windows, and railings to restore the historical form of western Sichuan’s modern architecture, but also reshaped the regular courtyard space and steps—strengthening the building structure while activating its usage function.
Beyond the building’s style renewal, this space was transformed into a vibrant venue for cultural and art activities. The courtyard and street spaces of the historical building were given new functions: it hosts art exhibitions (e.g., the "Cintang Street New Voice · New Life Centennial Image Exhibition") and cultural lectures. The old building’s grey-brick texture and traditional courtyard layout collide with contemporary art installations to create unique visual tension; the gathering of people at lectures infuses the historical space with human warmth. This functional implantation realizes deep integration of historical heritage, contemporary art, and public culture: Citang Gai evolved from simple architectural renewal to a "cultural container" that carries the city’s cultural memory and promotes art communication, providing a diverse model of "architecture + art + public participation" for the vitality regeneration of historical blocks.
Former Juxingcheng Bank Office
Built in the 1920s as a Chengdu branch of Juxingcheng Bank (a private commercial bank) in the ROC era; the famous Chinese painter Zhang Caiqin set up his studio on the second floor.
Juxingcheng Bank was the first private commercial bank established in Sichuan and one of China’s early well-known commercial banks. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, it was converted to public-private ownership, and this branch was transferred to Chengdu Industrial and Commercial Bank. This business building provides physical materials for studying local financial and commercial architecture in the ROC era.
Before restoration, the building was wrapped in modern metal panels: its style was blurred, disconnected from the historical block’s texture, and lacked recognition. After restoration, we stripped off non-historical components added later to restore the western Sichuan traditional architectural form (grey-brick walls, red-painted wooden windows, sloped roof), recreating its historical texture. We also introduced commercial brands, infusing modern vitality while preserving the historical style—allowing the building to return to Citang Gai’s historical context and achieve new life through the composite function of "history + commerce + culture." This is a typical practice of "style restoration + functional activation" for historical buildings.
/Conclusion/
New Vitality & Genius Loci
Citang Gai is one of the few well-preserved historical and cultural style blocks in central Chengdu, and currently the themed commercial community with the most cultural relic buildings and historical structures in the city. It made great contributions to Chengdu in a specific historical period and has high research value in architectural culture. The Chengdu Municipal Party Committee and Government carefully planned the "Eight Streets, Nine Blocks, Ten Scenes" of Tianfu Jincheng; as one of the "Eight Streets," Citang Gai was widely welcomed by the public after its renewal and opening: the elderly revisit historical memories here, young people pursue fashion here, and children are exposed to art here. After years of trials, the century-old Citang Gai has regained its vitality.
Christian Norberg-Schulz once said that genius loci (the spirit of a place) is formed by using the qualities a building brings to a site and fostering an intimate relationship between these materials and people. Respecting genius loci does not mean copying old models; it means affirming the site’s identity and interpreting it in new ways. The design deeply explores the unique identity of each building, ensuring that the restored structure is not just a physical space repair, but also a revival of historical scenes and cultural atmosphere. At the same time, the design breaks the limitation of "static protection of cultural relics" and accommodates the need for "living utilization," enabling cultural relic buildings to achieve a symbiotic balance between "protection" and "utilization" in inheritance.

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Citang Gai Renewal

China

Citang Gai Renewal

China

Product Spec Sheet

Collaborating Firms

Team